Carrier supports for sorting machine



Jan. 2, 1962 1. J. E. M. SCHOCKAERT 3,015,379

CARRIER SUPPORTS FOR SORTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Inventor J. J.E.M. SCHOCKAERI Attorney 2, 1962 .1. J. E. M. SCHOCKAERT3,015,379

CARRIER SUPPORTS FOR SORTING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15,1958 FIGZ.

Inventor are - Patented Jan. 2, 1962 ice CARRIER SUPPORTS FGRSQRTEQGMACHH'QE Jules Jean Emmanuel Marie Schocitaert, Antwerp, Belgiurn,assignor to International Standard Electric Corporation, New York, N.Y.,a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 15, 1958, Ser. 1 '0. 761,227Claims priority, application Netherlands Nov. 4, 1957 2 Claims. (Cl.198145) The invention relates to carrier supports for, a sortingmachine, and more particularly a mail sorter of the type disclosed inUS. Patent 2,689,657, issued September 21, 1954, to G. X. Lens.

In this patent, individual carriers, regularly spaced, are provided totake a letter to its destination, and these carriers are located betweenand driven by two endless conveying chains. These conveying chains movein a serpentine manner through various horizontal levels along all ofwhich but one are arranged destination bins to which the letters will bedelivered by gravity eifects. For this purpose, it is desirable that thecarrier which is in the form of a flat rectangular box should bepermanently tilted during its travel past the destination bins, so thatby opening a flap at the bottom of the carrier when the latter hasreached the destination bin corresponding to the address of the letter,the latter should slide towards the bin in the most efficient manner.inclining the carriers at a trailing angle of 45% has been found quitesatisfactory. To maintain this trailing angle of 45% when going from onelevel to the next, implying a bend of the serpentine path of 180,guiding and supporting wheels associated with each carrier have beenused in order to secure a rotation of the latter equal to 270. Thistakes into account the fact the carrier is symmetrical, being providedwith flaps at both ends so that in one level one flap will open todeliver the letter whereas in the next level, it would be the opening ofthe other flap which would permit the letter to fall to its destination.Additionally, the horizontal level which does not correspond to a set ofdestination bins, is the one which is associated with the input letterfeeding devices which will fill each carrier with a letter. For thispurpose, a set of intermediate carriers is used at each-input positionof the letter sorting machine and these intermediate carriers come intotemporary association with the carriers of the main endless chain. Thetransmitting intermediate carrier and the receiving main carrier comeonly together for a short interval of time and if the letter is again tobe delivered by gravity elfect, it is advisable that at that moment bothcarriers and particularly the main carrier should be in the uprightposition.

As shown in FIG. 3 of said patent, in order to support the main carriersin their three different positions according to the level of the machinethrough which they travel, the known system proposes the use of fouridling wheels associated with each carrier. The first two wheels 14 arelocated on opposite sides of the carrier and are designed to take oilthe load of the latter from the driving chains. They are mounted on asingle axle 40 perpendicular to the direction of the chains and havingits two ends mounted on the latter, the supporting wheels being locatedbetween each chain and the carrier. On one side of the latter, there aretwo further idling wheels 16 and 17 fixed to the carrier and located ina plane between the carrier and the corresponding supporting wheel onthat side. The centres of the three wheels on the one side of thecarrier form a right-angle isosceles triangle when projected in a planeperpendicular to the axles of the wheel, with the centre of the outsidesupporting wheel at the right angle.

In all the levels, the two outside supporting wheels 14 always roll onhorizontal guides parallel to the endless chains. In the single levelcorresponding to the feeding position (the lowermost level shown in FIG.2 of said patent), one of the two additional guiding wheels on the sideof the carrier rolls along a second horizontal guiding rail underneaththe main supporting rail and in such a position with respect to thelatter that the two additional guiding wheels are vertically on top ofone another corresponding with an upright position of the carrier. Theother additional guiding wheel prevents toppling of the carrierarrangement by being restrained in its upward displacement by yetanother horizontal guiding rail which is directly above itscircumference with a slight amount of play. In the remaining horizontallevels, corresponding to the destination bins, either one or the otherof the two additional guiding wheels rolls on the same guiding railwhich is used for the main supporting wheel on that side of the carrier,and which guiding rail is therefore made wide enough to support bothwheels. The other additional guiding wheel is located vertically on topof the main supporting wheel. In order that the arrangement should beadequately stable and that the weight of the inclined carrier should nottend to topple the arrangement, a further guide rail is provideddirectly on top of the one supporting the two wheels and at a distanceabove the latter which is just sufiicient to allow the two wheels toroll inside the channel thus formed.

While the two horizontal guiding rails for the two additional guidingwheels represent an entirely satisfactory arrangement for maintainingthe carrier in an upright position while a letter is being deliveredinto it, the two horizontal guiding rails forming a channelaccommodating a supporting wheel and a guiding wheel, to maintain thecarrier in an inclined position, presents a possible disadvantage.Indeed, when the carrier is being maintained in an upright position, ifboth guiding wheels simultaneously roll along their respective guidingrails, i.e the one below one wheel and the one above the other wheel,this is not an inconvenience, but when the two wheels rolling on thesame level to maintain the carriers in inclined positions, happen tocome against their upper guiding rail for a certain length of travel,severe friction might occur leading to wear of the outside periphery ofthe wheels. This can only be taken care of by careful adjustment of theposition of the guiding rails and by avoiding any irregularities in thesurface of the latter which come into contact with the wheels, as wellas the presence of any solid particles.

An object of the invention is to simplify the manner in which thecarriers are supported in their inclined positions and at the same timeavoid the above mentioned possible inconvenience.

Another object of the invention is to be able to use wheels of a greaterradius, thereby insuring smoother rolling and less wear, for a givenstability of the upright position of the carrier.

Yet another object of the invention is to permit a closer spacingbetween adjacent carriers for a given radius of the supporting andguiding wheels.

In accordance with a characteristic of the invention, carrier supportsfor a sorting machine, e.g. a mail sorter, comprising two supportingwheels, one on each side of the carrier, and with their aligned axlestransverse to the direction of endless chains on both sides of thecarriers and driving said carriers through various horizontal levels ina serpentine fashion, and comprising also two additional guiding wheelsmounted in the same plane on the same side of the carrier and integralwith the latter so that said four Wheels, may be used in conjunctionwith guiding rails parallel to the chains to support and guide thecarriers in upright or inclined positions, is characterised by the factthat when both the outside supporting wheels and one of the additionalguiding wheels are rolling at the i in an upright position;v

same level to support'the carrier in a well defined position, e.g.inclined at a trailing angle of 45 with respect.

to the horizontal direction of the advancement, the other additionalguiding wheel rolls on top of the supported guiding wheel of thepreceding carrier, thereby restraining any displacement of the carrierfrom its predetermined required angular position. '7 1 1 The above andother objects and characteristics of the invention and the best mannerof attaining them will be better understood from the followingdescription of an embodiment of the invention to be read in conjunctionwith the appended drawings which represent:

FIG. 1, a schematic front view of a carrier supported FIG. 2, aschematic side view of successive carriers in the position of FIG. 1;FIG. 3, a schematic front view of a carrier supported in an inclinedposition.

FIG. 4, a schematic side view of successive carriers in the position ofFIG. 3,

FIG. 5, a diagrammatic showing of the overall organization illustratingthe carriers in different positions.

The carrier 1 whichhas the shape of a fiat rectangular box and which isonly schematically represented since its details are to be found in theabove mentioned patent is supported by means of the two idler rollers 2and 3 which roll around axles 4 and 4' fixed to a triangular-shaped extension plate 3:: (FIGS. 2 and 4) of the carrier 1.. The axles 4 and 4'may, in fact, constitute a common supporting axle, the opposite endsthereof being external to the supporting wheels 2 and 3 and being fixedto the chains 5 and 5' '(FIGS. 1 and 3). The supporting wheels 2 and 3respectively roll on the guiding rails 6 and 6' to take off the load ofthe carriers from the driving endless chains. Two additional idlingwheels 7 and 8 are mounted between idler roller 2 and carrier 1 by meansof the respective axles 9 and 10 connected to the triangular extension3a of the carrier 1.

As shown by FIGS. 1 and 2, guiding wheel 8 rolls on the guiding rail 11which permits the carriers 1 to occupy an upright position since thevertical distance between the rails 6 and 11 has been chosen to be aboutequal to the common radius of the wheels. As shown by FIGS. 1 and 2, thecarrier is evidently prevented from rotating in a clockwise manner. Anyanti-clockwise rotation is prevented by friction between the wheel 7 andthe guiding rail 12.

FIGS. 3 and 4 represent the inclined positions of the carriers 1 whichare then at.45 with respect to the hori-' zontal. At that moment, thereis only a single guiding rail 13 replacing rail 6 but which has anextended width to enable both wheels 2 and 8 to be supported. Thisguiding rail 13 similarly prevents a clockwise rotationof the carriersfrom their predetermined inclined position,

but counter-clockwise rotation is prevented by the upper (FIG. 4)guiding wheel 7 rolling against-the supported guiding wheel 8 of thepreceding carrier.

In rounding the bend of 180 to pass from one level to the next, curvedguiding rails will be provided as shown in the said patent to cause thecarrierarrangement to rotate by 270 so that the guiding wheel 7 will nowroll together with the supporting wheel 2 on a double width guiding rail13 while guiding wheel 8 will now be located above the supporting wheel2.

In the manner disclosed, a rail such as 14 indicated in dotted lines inFIG. 4 is no longer needed to avoid an anti-clockwise rotation of theinclined carriers since this is now prevented by one carrier producing arolling restraining action on the preceding one, each wheel 8 being inrolling contact with the wheel 7 of the adjacent carrier, Hence, thereare no longer any possibilities for the wheels 2 and 8 to be squeezed inthe channel formed by the rails 13 and 14.

Moreover, the omission of the guiding rail 14 permits the placement ofthe centre 15 of wheel 7 at a distance from the centre of wheels 2 and 3which is substantially less than the diameter of the wheels, assumingthat all three wheels have the-same diameter; Indeed, with the guiderail 14 and since the wheels 7 and 8 are in the same plane, the spacingbetween the two centres would necessarily have had to be larger thanthis diameter. With the arrangement shown, particularly by FIG. 4, it isnow the distance between the centres of the two guiding wheels 7 and Swhich must be greater than the diameter of the wheels. In fact, asshown, a slight clearance is needed, to avoid additional frictionaleifects, particularly since when rounding bends it is the wheels 7 and 8which will be guided by outside curved rails to produce the rotation ofthe carrier 1. These curved rails have diflferent radii of curvaturecausing differences in the peripheral speeds of the wheels which make itundesirable that the wheels 7 and 8 of the same carrier should touch oneanother.

One may note that-the distance d indicated in FIGS. 2 and 4, between thecentre 16 of wheels 2 and 3, and the line joining the centres 15 and 17of wheels 7 and 8 is a measure of thedegree of stability of the carriers1 in the uprightposition. Indeed, considering FIG. 1, as this distanceis reduced, the stability of the carriers will diminish.

With the arrangement shown, it is clear thatthe diameter of the wheelsmay be as large as twice this distance, whereas with the previousarrangement involving'the use of the guide rail 14 (FIG. 4), thediameter of the wheels would be limited to d /2. Hence, larger wheelsensuring a smoother rolling action and less wear may now be used for thesame degree or" stability of the vertical position of the carrier. 7

Also, FIG. 4 clearly indicates that the minimum dis.- tance betweenadjacent carriers, i.e. 1616', must only be larger than D 2 where D isthe diameter of the wheels, assuming that the diameter of the axles suchas 4, is not larger than D(\/2-l). .With the previous arrangementinvolving the use of the guide rail 14, the distance between adjacentcarriers would necessarily have to be greater than 3D/ 2 plus the radiusof the axle 4. Hence, there is also an improvement with respect to theclose spacing possibilities of the carriers.

FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic view of the overall organization of thesorting machine. This figure clearly illustrates the carriers in thevarious positions that can be assumed in the machine. Chain 5' is shownat each level of its serpentine path with the guide-rail 6' shown indetail at one level. The guide rail 11 is shown in conjunction withguiderail 6 at the bottom of FIG. 5 thereby permitting the carriers to remainin an upright position.

While the principles of the invention have been described above inconnection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood thatthis description is made only by way of example and not as a limitationon the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination, an article carrier for a continuous conveyor systemof the type having a pair of parallel spaced chains which reeve back andforth in different horizontal directions and a pair of spaced trackseach of which is adjacent a difierent one of said chains and paralleltherewith, each of said carriers comprising an object holder, a pair ofparallel extension plates extending from said holder, axle meansextending outwardly from said plates and coupled to said chains, a pairof spaced axles attached to one of said plates, said axles lying in acommon plane, said common plane spaced from the plane of said axlemeans, a pair of idler rollers rotatably mounted on said axle means onopposite sides of said holder adjacent said chains whereby to supportsaid carrier on said tracks, a pair of guide rollers, each one rotatablymounted on a difierent one of said spaced axles, all of said rollersbeing of a uniform diameter, the spacing between said axles beingslightly larger than said diameter, the distance between said commonplane and the plane of said axle means being slightly larger than theradius of any of said rollers, one of said guide rollers adapted to abutagainst a guide roller of an adjacent carrier in the system, whereby apredetermined angular displacement of each carrier is maintained withrespect to said tracks.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of said tracks isof a width which is substantially References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lens Sept. 21, 1954

